Camelia Gavrilescu , Camelia Toma , Crina Turtoi Institute for Agricultural Economics

1. INCOME, EXPENDITURES AND AGRIFOOD CONSUMPTION OF THE RURAL POPULATION IN ROMANIA – AN OVERVIEW OF THE LAST TWO DECADES CameliaGavrilescu, CameliaToma, CrinaTurtoi Institute for Agricultural Economics Romanian Academy “20 years of farming and rural transition in Eastern European countries: what have we learned?” A conference Rural'Est-SFER, 20-21 october 2011, Agrosup Dijon, France

2. During the last 2 decades ... • Romania has made huge efforts to achieve several goals in its agrifood sector: • to transform it from a centrally planned to a market-driven one; • to develop and modernise it; • to adapt it to the requirements imposed by the accession to the European Union

3. Rural area in Romania means … • 45% of the total population (45.7% in 1990  44.9% in 2009)

4. Agricultural and industrial employment (‘000 persons)

5. Agricultural and industrial employment (% in total employment)

6. … generated a rather important part of the GDP

7. Factors influencing that trend… • Intrinsic to the agrifood sector: • restructuring of land ownership and use; • restructuring of the agrifoodchains; • Good / bad agricultural year • Extrinsic to the agrifood sector: • restructuring in secondary and tertiary economic sectors • increasing urban unemployment • lack non-agricultural unemployment • Inflation • exchange rate etc.

8. Average real salaries and pensions indices (1990=100)

9. Average and minimum salary in the Romanian economy (1990=100)

10. Income in the agricultural sector • Dynamics of household income is a reflection of: • economic conditions • constraints that have been increasingly tougher • Various types of reactions in the agrifood sector: • Occupational diversification: • Pluriactive households • Decrease of full-time agricultural employment • Migration of labor (to urban areas / abroad) • Investment and development

11. Income structure in agricultural households (average 2002-2009)

12. Income structure in agricultural households • High share of on-farm consumption (~50%) • Low share of agrifood product sales (14-20%) • Daily income per capita in rural households: 3-4 EUR • Income in farmer householdsare only 50-56% of those in urban households

13. Total income (average per family member – EUR/day)

14. Structure of consumption expenditures (average 2002-2009)

15. Structure of consumption expenditures, by sources

16. Crop products consumption trend

17. Main trends in food consumption (crop products) • high consumption of bread and cereal products, that represent the basic food items for all household types. • cereals provide 45% of calories in population’s diet (48% in the rural area)  low food diversification; • increase of consumption in cereals, potatoes and vegetables until 2001-2002; • cereals  • potatoes  • fruit and vegetables   • decline of fruit consumption due to domestic production decline and price increase

18. Animal products consumption trend

19. Main trends in food consumption (animal products) • low consumption of meat and meat products, compared to the European average • pork and chicken = 75-80% of total fresh meat consumption • low preference for beef (<10-13%; 8-10% in rural areas) • very low preference for fish • high share of consumption from household own resources for certain products such as eggs and milk

20. Main trends in food consumption (animal products) • last 8 years (since 2002): • fresh meat - increase of total quantity (~20%) • increase of chicken at expense of beef but mostly of pork • in rural areas, chicken is already half of total fresh meat consumption • increase of milk and dairy products consumption, mainly due to domestic production increase

21. Beverages consumption trend

22. Daily average food consumption per capita

23. Main trends in food consumption • high consumption of bread and cereal products, that represent the basic food items for all household types • cereals provide 45% of calories in population’s diet (48% in the rural area), which implies a low food diversification • Almost ¾ (72-76%) of the daily ratio is coming from non-animal calories

24. General conclusions • Romania has made huge efforts to develop its agrifood sector and rural areas • Still high agricultural employment • Moderate efficiency (GDP per person employed in agriculture) • Lower labor prices as compared to other MS • High level of on-farm consumption • Food model shows low income and inadequate nutritional ratios mostly in rural areas

25. Thank you for your attention!